Vladimir Putin

President of the Russian Federation

“Why do we seem to have vocal and proactive opposition members in this country but they do not really provide any serious competition to the incumbent authorities? You know, Russia’s path in the past decades has been quite remarkable, to put it mildly. Why is that? Of course, some younger people do not remember or do not even know what was happening here in the 1990s and the early 2000s. So they cannot really compare it to the present situation.”

Putin explains that the reason he faces no serious rivals for the presidency is due to the accomplishments of Russia during his tenure, and implies that the opposition has no program. However, both domestic and foreign analyses of the past 17 years say that Russia’s accomplishments have been largely negated thanks to Putin’s own policies. There also are domestic political reasons why Putin’s rivals are weakened, which he does not mention.

President Putin’s responses at his annual news conference repeat his claim that Russia is not involved in the Ukraine conflict, that Crimeans freely chose annexation. He turned his view of interference in the U.S. election to disputes over Russian state media – RT and Sputnik. Polygraph has fact checked many similar comments by the president.

Vladimir Putin

President, Russian Federation

«… a significant part of the Russian military contingent stationed in Syrian Arab Republic is returning home to Russia. I order the Minister of Defense, the chief of General Staff to proceed with the withdrawal of the Russian group of forces to the places of their permanent deployment."

Bryan MacDonald

an Irish journalist based in Russia.

However, the refusal of most prominent western media outlets to cover the breaking story from Kiev spells danger for “Mischa.” As I write, on Tuesday afternoon, the dramatic events [attempted arrest of Saakashvili and protests] are completely absent from the front pages of America’s CNN, New York Times, and Washington Post.

While the U.S. and the western press did not feature the stories on their front pages, they did not “refuse” to cover, and in fact reported with bylines and photographs from the region on the events unfolding in Kyiv before, on, and after December 5.

Vladimir Dzhabarov

First Deputy Chairman for Foreign Affairs of Russia’s Council of Federation

“Actually, there is a civil war in Ukraine between the DNR [Donetsk People’s Republic], the LNR [Luhansk People’s Republic], and the rest of Ukraine. It is completely unclear why Russia should bear any responsibility for this.”

RT is predominantly citing experts and politicians who agree with the Kremlin’s claim, that Russia is not a party to the war in Ukraine, which it calls a “civil war.” There is, however factual proof of Russia’s active involvement in creating the conflict, and was behind the creation of the secessionist “republics,” which Moscow sustains financially and logistically.

Vladimir Putin

President of the Russian Federation

“Terrorists have been completely destroyed on the both banks of the Euphrates River. Naturally, there might be some spots of resistance, but the military work has been largely completed in the area and at the time. Completed with a full victory, I repeat, with a victory and defeat of the terrorists.”

Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday, December 6 announced a complete liberation of Syria from the Islamic State. An hour after Putin’s announcement, his statement was backed up by Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Command of Russia’s Armed Forced, who said, “The Army General Sergey Shoigu briefed the commander-in-chief, Russian President Vladimir Putin an hour ago that all ISIS terrorist groups in Syria have been destroyed and the territory was liberated.” His statement is bold, but largely accurate, with some caveats.

Margarita Simonyan

RT’s editor-in-chief

“To all the self-righteous defenders of 'freedom of speech' who oh-so-ardently proclaimed that FARA registration places no restrictions whatsoever on RT's journalistic work in the US: Withdrawal of Congressional credentials speaks much louder than empty platitudes. And to borrow from Orwell, all ‘foreign agents‘ are equal, but looks like only RT is denied congressional accreditation on the basis of FARA status, while the likes of NHK and China Daily carry on business as usual, and U.S. officials continue to claim that the forced FARA registration for RT America's operating company isn't at all discriminatory.”

FARA does not restrict a media outlet's ability to cover the news. The Galleries stripped RT of credentials to cover the U.S. Congress in person. While it may appear that RT has been singled out, it is not entirely clear which outlets registered as foreign agents continue to have the credentials.

Russian Defense Ministry

“Closing a 55 kilometer zone around the U.S. base in At Tanf, the U.S. group established an area in which more than 50,000 people, according to various estimates, are isolated. This has created an unprecedented case of protracted blocking of humanitarian assistance to needy people. In the refugee camp, the opportunity to obtain sufficient food and appropriate medical care is absent, and children cannot go to school.”

Documents obtained by Polygraph.info, as well as Russian media reports, show that the U.S. is not solely responsible for the crisis in the Rukban refugee camp. In fact, the American side has repeatedly offered assistance in delivering aid. There are strong indicators that, the U.S. military in Syria, while being portrayed as a victimizer by the Russian Defense Ministry, is actually the target of a massive coordinated media campaign in Russia.

Despite overwhelming evidence that the Maidan shooters were members of the Victor Yanukovych's security services, pro-Kremlin sources have repeatedly tried to pin the killings on political opposition parties or foreign mercenaries. This story includes claims that have already been debunked.

@cinicarea

Russian satirical profile

“This brave old man was a messenger in a unit of fighters for the freedom of Novorossiya. Neighbors and friends in Luhansk knew him as Mikhalych, his fellow militiamen knew him by his nom de guerre Charlie. Today he fell into the clutches of the Banderovtsy. Before the execution these filthy men draw a swastika on his forehead. We will not forget, we will not forgive!”

Despite the satirical nature of the tweet passing off a photo of the notorious American criminal as a Russian militiaman in Ukraine, the post was retweeted by top Russian politician and even made headlines in the Russian press.

Despite Simonyan’s constant criticism of the U.S. for violating press freedom, Polygraph.info’s fact-check of RT’s FARA documents found that the U.S. Intelligence community assessment -- “RT has positioned itself as a domestic US channel and has deliberately sought to obscure any legal ties to the Russian Government” – is accurate and fact-based.